Contentions

In a further sign of the ascent of radicalism in Palestinian politics, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told the Washington Times he would not run for the post of president. Fayyad, a favorite of the West due to his preference for nation building and improving the lives of ordinary Palestinians rather than promoting terror and hatred of Jews and Israel, is on the chopping block as prime minister because Hamas insists the unity pact with Fatah will not be fulfilled until his ouster. Fayyad knows better than to try his luck with the Palestinian electorate. Despite an unparalleled record of fighting corruption and promoting prosperity, he hasn’t a chance against the gunslingers of both Fatah and Hamas.

Even more interesting is his insistence he will not serve as finance minister, the job he held previous to his current post. To his credit, he doesn’t like the idea of being a front for a Hamas government whose respectability would be pimped abroad in order to continue the flow of aid from the United States and Europe. “I do not really view myself as an ATM for the Palestinian Authority,” said Fayyad.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what a man like the American-educated Fayyad would be in a Fatah-Hamas unity government. Though their Palestinian apologists and western cheerleaders would have us believe Hamas has become a non-violent political organization, Fayyad senses that Palestinian unity bought at such a price will lead to more conflict and doom for his development projects. Moreover, he understands that Hamas is unlikely to ever make peace with Israel or give up terrorism.

Though Hamas’ Palestinian and foreign apologists are trying to persuade the West to view it as no different from the ruling party of Turkey whose leader is so chummy with President Obama, any move that would bring it to power would mean an end to all hope of peace in the Middle East. That the Obama administration views this possibility with so little alarm says a lot about how little Washington understands the Palestinians or the region. But once Fayyad is gone, those who seek to keep American taxpayer dollars flowing to a government that subsidizes hate, such as Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, will have to find a new local front for their ATM.